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Drug Makers Jack Prices
Drug makers may have promised $8 billion in savings to legislators writing health-care reform, but here’s what they didn’t tell us: In the past year, they’ve raised prices by $10 billion. The 9-percent increase in cost for brand-name prescription drugs is the highest rate of inflation since 1992. The Consumer Price Index, meanwhile, fell 1.3 percent in the last year. Critics charge that the companies are trying to establish a higher price base before Congress’s cost-saving measures kick in.
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isn't that 1/2 a a-hole Ob. in bed with them??
Another case of corporations out-smarting the Obama administration.
The President strikes a pathetic, secretive deal with the drug companies. They agreed to lower the cost of some (not all) drugs. Now, they are not happy with the health care reform bill from the House of Representatives, they have decided to hike up prices by 9%.
The biggest problem with the health care bill is that it is phased in over the years. It does not all go into effect immediately after passage. Therefore, while the Republicans stall it in congress, the drug companies and health care insurers have added time to increase costs by at least 10%.
The Senate needs to protect Americans and give us a health care reform bill that is tougher on drug companies and health insurers. It has a responsibility to start the health care reform bill as soon as it passes with no phase in over years.
Ahh... its a 100% democrats bill. So any delays would be yours.and yours alone.
It still has to go through committees where half of those committee members are Republicans. Mitch McConnell actually admitted that the GOP was stalling the bill.
Even if the bill were to be passed tomorrow, there would still be plenty of time for all the health care companies to raise their prices - that's why they were willing to strike a deal.
The president struck a deal and the other party (drug companies with the acquiescence of the insurance companies and for-profit healthcare) cheated on the deal. His response should be to kill the deal, scrap all the current reform bills passed in the house and senate, start over and force every obstinate senator and congressman to explain to the public (in their states and districts) why he/she opposes healthcare/insurance reforms with a public option and stringent restrictions on the whores of insurance and for-profit medical care entities, including drug companies--which accept--and line their stockholder pockets with--untold federal dollars for their research and development programs.
What the insurance companies, for-profit hospitals, drug companies have done and are doing to the American citizenry has been, is and will remain more criminal than what Capone of Madoff did in terms of sheer volume. The pitifully and purposefully brainwashed "ignorant American" must finally stand up and says "no more!" It is the responsibility of the President to go to war against these thieves; to teach and lead the American people!
Obama must put the full and unencumbered burden on Republicans & Blue Dogs to defend the current corrupt healthcare system from top to bottom. Obama needs to use extortion, blackmail, bullying and "scorched earth" tactics against the elected enemies of reform--who, themselves, use the "Big Lie", outright lies, half truths, convoluted logic, propaganda and "glittering generalities" to dupe the "willing to be duped" American. LBJ used fire against fire to pass civil rights, voting rights, open housing, Medicare, etc. because it was (and remains) the only way to govern in a nation filled with the "mass mind" mentality so well described by Jose Ortega y Gasset in his REVOLT OF THE MASSES. The current Obama "pussy-footing' just won't get the job done!
Obama, go on nationwide television and expose the greedy bastards with harsh, hard-hitting, blunt, pure facts and even some ad hominem language on the verge of bombast!!! Preach for an hour, maybe two or three hours, until all of the facts are on the table--so all Americans and those who speak for them will no longer have the excuse of ignorance! Study some General George Patton! Please, no more flowery, "reach across the aisle" or "rear end kissing" malarkey.
Treat the enemy (The National Corporate Security Statists) of the people as the enemy of the people. They are the same people who fought child labor, sweat-shop labor and pure food and drug reforms in a previous time. They are the same people, charlatans, who defend poisoning the air, water, soil and food for another dime of corporate profit while spouting religionist rhetoric which leaves out the part about "feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, ministering to the ill, clothing the naked...". They are Republicans and Republican sympathizers! They are mean, greedy, forked tongued hypocrites filled with the pus of avarice who have no concern for the American person!!! Treat them as such!
The way you describe them, the drug companies are incredible bullies who can and will get their way (big profits) one way or another. Somehow they have been given the upper hand and they are not about to withdraw it. What you state about the time it will take to implement any passed health care bill is true of every bill made into law, not to mention the other usually unrelated nonsense attachments that legislators insist on tacking onto so many bills before they can get through. If this time lag between passage and enactment is a given, why is congress adding to the process and giving the drug companies time to have it their way--unless, of course, Republicans really don't give a hoot about whether and when people who need health care receive it; it is a matter of life or death for so many Americans and these longwinded pompous asses make it a game!
Squareyellowpaper, it isn't a case of the drug companies outsmarting Obama. It is a case of the drug industry taking advantage of the popular perversion of our system which declares that anything designed to make a positive difference for the hard working American people is a "socialist" or "communist" conspiracy; a notion perpetrated by the actual anti-capitalist National Corporate Security Statists wrapped in the flag "Neo-Con" Republican oligarchists who improperly call themselves "conservatives"!!!
The working poor and middle income people--the actual victims of the moguls of insurance, drugs, for-profit hospitals--are the real culprits because they refuse to open their eyes, ears and minds so as to see, listen to and consider the realities all around them. No, they prefer the myth that anything big business does is right; that unbridled, laissez faire capitalism is ordained by God; that any regulation or oversight by government at any level is a sure road to totalitarian communism; that Texas is the only really American place left in the world today; that true conservatism means "greed is good" and that it is okay to work one's self to death making the rich richer because one day, before one dies, one might win the lottery or sell a song or write a $million best-seller.
The other culprit is the two-thirds rule in the Senate. While it is designed to be a protective device for the minority in the senate, it is the main reason some good legislation is, at times, virtually impossible to pass and that some bad legislation is also hard to pass. It has its place but the American people have had a hard time understanding that if they want "efficient" legislative processes, they need to give one party the power necessary to pass legislation; that is, several more than a two-thirds majority in the senate; thus, taking a chance that the super-majority party won't take too much advantage of that majority. That is the burden and the glory of a non-parliamentary democratic-republic.
As for Demdisorder, the billl is not a "100% democrats bill." Several hundred pervasive Republican committee amendments (passed to mollify Republicans) and the "abortion" provision (while carried by Stupak, it was passed by Republicans on the floor)--which is a "poison pill"--are major elements of "the bill"...
Squareyellowpaper, it isn't a case of the drug companies outsmarting Obama. It is a case of the drug industry taking advantage of the popular perversion of our system which declares that anything designed to make a positive difference for the hard working American people is a "socialist" or "communist" conspiracy; a notion perpetrated by the actual anti-capitalist National Corporate Security Statists wrapped in the flag "Neo-Con" Republican oligarchists who improperly call themselves "conservatives"!!!
The working poor and middle income people--the actual victims of the moguls of insurance, drugs, for-profit hospitals--are the real culprits because they refuse to open their eyes, ears and minds so as to see, listen to and consider the realities all around them. No, they prefer the myth that anything big business does is right; that unbridled, laissez faire capitalism is ordained by God; that any regulation or oversight by government at any level is a sure road to totalitarian communism; that Texas is the only really American place left in the world today; that true conservatism means "greed is good" and that it is okay to work one's self to death making the rich richer because one day, before one dies, one might win the lottery or sell a song or write a $million best-seller.
The other culprit is the two-thirds rule in the Senate. While it is designed to be a protective device for the minority in the senate, it is the main reason some good legislation is, at times, virtually impossible to pass and that some bad legislation is also hard to pass. It has its place but the American people have had a hard time understanding that if they want "efficient" legislative processes, they need to give one party the power necessary to pass legislation; that is, several more than a two-thirds majority in the senate; thus, taking a chance that the super-majority party won't take too much advantage of that majority. That is the burden and the glory of a non-parliamentary democratic-republic.
As for Demdisorder, the billl is not a "100% democrats bill." Several hundred pervasive Republican committee amendments (passed to mollify Republicans) and the "abortion" provision (while carried by Stupak, it was passed by Republicans on the floor)--which is a "poison pill"--are major elements of "the bill"...
The drug manufacturers took a lesson from the credit card companies. My wife and I both have excellent credit and all of our credit card bills have always been paid on time and in full before thedue date. We have been notified by Chase and Citi Cards that our interest rate has been increased to 29.9%. These comapnies were deaf to our complaints, we are changing to a credit union based credit card which has an interest rate 20% lower. BASTARDS, both the pharma companies and the banks.
theschmooze
BASTARDS, both the pharma companies and the banks.
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theschmooze --lol -- very true the sheeple are well "molded" by the Powers they "elected" ??
The Banks the Pharmaceuticals own the "High Streets"--- WORLDWIDE----
The Banks --- via fraud caused this present economic debacle ---
The Pharmaceutical Complex are helping the "dumbed down" sheeple remain that way.
A small percentage of us know but are helpless to help the masses -- best to look after No.1 ?
Beware --- ang good luck --its still a jungle out there and its "everyone for themselves"---
"When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to
change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives." ---- Joseph Campbell.
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We are all in the same boat. We have perfect credit. One card that carries one charge a month and paid off monthly was cancelled. Our two other cards, also paid off monthly, have been increased to 29.9%. We want to keep our cards in case of an emergency. After the holidays, if and when we get tax refunds, we should put it into savings account and use it as our own credit account. Just pay back the monthly amount "borrowed" from the account and pay it back with a little more to build it up.
The president says he wants Americans spending more, but the banks are certainly not sending that message. It is just financial suicide for middle class families to spend a nickel without having the funds on hand and the ability to pay yourself back.
The Congress passed a bill this year to "reform" credit cards and Obama cheered it through. As a result of the dems' credit card reform bill, the banks are restricted from charging deadbeats extra fees so they are going after the only people the dems didn't protect----the folks with good credit.
Sears changes the due date of mine every month. It messes my head up enough I've been late a few times. Now that I get it I will never be again. I also am boycotting credit cards.
Somethings wrong in America.
How come drugs are cheaper in other countries? I always understood mass production decreased costs yet with the pill makers it's the other way around.
Because the drug companies bleed Americans for all that they can. Other countries have price controls on what can be charged. The drug companies can agree to those charges or take a hike. In other countries, many drugs are made by drug companies that do not operate in the USA. They make generic brands of the same drugs we have here.
Our drug companies are in the business to make a profit. I would rather see the government tax drug companies to give grants to universities or a federal laboratory to research new drugs. We would get more accomplished and it would not be based on profits first.
Drug companies spend billions of dollars on needless sales and marketing: pads, pens, samples, free gifts to med office staff, and TV ads. Add that all to the cost of your drugs. Add also the people who sell the drugs: the drug stores in your town and neighborhood. They, too, get a piece of the action.
Should prescription drugs be a part of health care reform? Yes.
The drug companies have been bleeding America for years because we have the FINEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD and the FREE MARKET works so well in health care and COMPETITION doesn't apply to them. Thank God we pass laws prohibiting us from negotiating better prices. The lobbyists have been helpful enough to write them for us. No need to change the system! Nothing happening here folks, walk away! Don't mess with the world's most expensive health care!
other countries don't only have generic drug companies, they have the same drug companies as the US, it's just that the government in those countries tells big pharma that they cannot charge anything they like for drugs, they have to charge a fair amount related to their real costs. Oh I'm sorry, I forgot that in the US we are told that the government t should have no role in anything, as it is always bad thing, in fact it is 'socialism'. Now who is telling us this? Why it is big business, and the banks, and their loyal servants in Congress who will do anything for their masters to keep those campaign funds rolling in.
Drug companies in other countries ARE American companies. Every major US drug manufacturer has a plant in Puerto Rico (guess why) and many drugs that you need a prescription for in continental US are OTC there and in many other countries as well. To get a prescription in this country first you must pay a physician, so the money mill goes round and round. I work in the pharmaceutical advertising industry and I can tell you that drug manufacturers are always pushing to sell you more drugs, even drugs that they know we as a population don't really need. Why do you think there is so much publicity about swine flu--so that the drug companies who cranked out that vaccine in massive quantities can scare enough people into thinking they will contract the flu and die without it, which is not the case for most healthy people. They must sell this vaccine while everyone is in panic mode because it will not be of any use when the next (different) strain of flu comes along next year--there is a pattern here. It amazes me how easily frightened Americans are but Congress doesn't seem to get it; they just continue to humor the drug companies because they are big business and what is good for business is (supposedly) good for America.
Research, development, drug trials, FDA approval - they add up to enormous costs which should be recovered in the selling price of the drug. But if other countries refuse to pay enough to cover their share of those costs, they get shifted back to us.
Dud, this ain't gonna add up... My job gets on a boat to India, so I get my drugs from the Internet because they're too expensive for me to get from the corner drugstore...
BTW, just what IS the other countries "share" of the costs and how is this this determined???
njoy - The "share" is the full price of the drug with all costs (r&d, manufacturing, marketing, delivery, etc) and profit margin included. If you want to sell in a particular market and they won't let you charge full price, then you've got to make up the difference by charging more than full price in another market.
Most likely, the difference in price bwteen the internet and the corner drugstore is a variation of this. The internet site can negotiate a lower price because of bulk purchases (plus it has less overhead), so the drugstore has to pay more to make up the difference.
njoy - I forgot to add that when a drug's patent expires, other countries won't pay as much for it as they did when it was under patent. Here in the US, the drug companies are allowed to continue charging the patent price. Don't know why, except for the usual suspects - political influence.
Ah, this old chestnut - that American companies do the research and take the hit for the costs and then the rest of the world benefits without paying.
All the big drug companies are truly multinational and even then only some are originally American in origin. Yes there are good labs and university basic science research institutes in the US, but the fact is that the majority of clinical trials on real patients are done outside the US now. This due to the incredible difficulty and expense in doing drug trials in the US (due mostly to the legal environment and very high markups everyone involved in the trial can and will charge) - those very high costs in getting a drug through all the regulatory hoops set by the FDA in the US are largely unjustified. The FDA is not wrong in its high standards its just that the costs of getting a drug to the patient in the US is much higher than anywhere else due to the for profit health system mentality. The European Union drug agency has similar standards to the US and yet the cost of trialling a new drug and licensing it in the EU are much cheaper.
Its quite common for major US universities to collaborate with major Canadian universities in running trials in Canada for this reason. This trend will continue as long as costs in the US are not controlled, and US consumers will pay ever more for prescription drugs.
Of course, they include government funded research in their costs, so we get to pay twice--once in tax dollars for research, and again for the freeloaders who market it.
@eroteme
You are so right--all the regulation that keeps us so safe from manufacturers marketing drugs that don't meet FDA standards are part of the cost of doing business and add to the price paid by consumers at the pharmacy counter. Notice, though, that there are still many drugs that are withdrawn from the market after the fact due to law suits (Vioxx, for example). We can't really have it both ways; that is, the position to sue legally if we are harmed by an FDA-approved drug but still expect to pay an acceptable price for our medications. Perhaps if America wasn't such a litigious nation we wouldn't be in a situation where we actually contribute to the expenses of health care. On the subway every morning I see several ads posted by law firms who specialize in malpractice suits--they are looking for business, too, so lawyers are an important part of the picture as well.
eroteme - I didn't say anything about the drug company costs being incurred in the US. It doesn't matter where they're incurred or why or whether they're a result of regulation or a "for profit health system mentality". Cost are costs and companies pass them on to the consumers. If they can't pass them on to everyone they'll pass them on to those who are willing (or forced) to pay.
One of the things that has gone wrong in this country is the misguided belief that capitalism works, It does when it's not corrupted as our has been these last thirty years. Capitalism works when there's REAL competition. When there aren't government subsidies to CORPORATIONS.
It's a fact that when it comes to any aspect of the medical/industrial complex competition only raises prices. The Rand Corporation and a number of medical economists have published papers on this phenomena.
The other aspect is I'm a bit stunned that Obama and this administration thought the BIG BOYS would do the right thing, just because the people are demanding change. Big Pharma, Hospitals (where administrators now earn as much as orthos and neuros) and Radiology centers won't lower prices UNLESS forced.
Every other industrialized country has said to it medical system, you can earn a profit, but not if you kill people or put the cost of care out of reach. Seems simple enough to me.
Keep in mind that those most against reform are multimillionaires earning a king's ransom in salaries and percs and they think they're entitled.
We need to start calling out those we elected who serve only Mammon (god of greed). If Congress won't take them on, then we must.
OK, so REAL capitalism with REAL competition works, but this "socialized capitalism" we find ourselves in does not. Is this what you are saying?
Good points, all, Mixpixlix. Where did this idea that if we don't overpay doctors, pharmacies and manufacturers, and the big bankers we are going to be left in the hands of incompetents? In nearly every other field of employment those who do their work well get the biggest rewards. In banking, it doesn't matter if you are a failure at your job, you are still considered "talented" and you get your million $ bonus; and in health care, the sky is the limit as far as what fees a doctor or drug company can charge, even if the patient dies. When a dentist can charge $135 for a 1-minute "consultation" and a hospital $2.00 for a Tylenol, something is very wrong.
What a shocker! Every time the government steps in to try to protect consumers the related industries just pass the buck off and increase prices. First the credit card companies and now big pharma.
Health care insurers and prescription drug manufacturers have gone unregulated for years. With congress in their pockets, they will continue to raise costs and Americans will be forced to pay them.
At some point the consumer has a choice: drugs or groceries. Do you want your kids to go hungry or to die without their meds?
The vast majority will not die from not taking their meds.
OH! So letting some kids die is OK?
A culling?
Perhaps...
A very large share of drug sales (maybe the largest) is for cholesterol and hypertension. There are some whose high cholesterol and high blood pressure can't be controlled in any other way, but most would benefit from a better diet and some exercise. But we'd much rather take drugs than put down that Whopper, stub out that cigarette and get up from the couch - the drug companies know that.
American capitalist free markets are disgusting! And we think we have all the answers?
Working class and poor Americans are at the mercy of the rich. Those who thought they were part of the middle class are having to reassess that myth. In most parts of the country, a family with two wage earners and a combined income of $180,000 per year, and with two kids are just getting by.
Christ on a fucking cross Square. I respect a lot of your points but 180k a year and they just get by????? I live in Monmouth NJ and make 90K a year combined and have 1 child and i do just fine in fact i have a rental property - Why? Because I live within my means, I save my money, I invest when and where I can and i don't spend money on superfluous things, sure I have cable TV and a cell phone but if the important bills like my health insurance (which i gladly pay 1200/month for) or mortgage started to suffer i would throw out the "entitled" luxuries i have. That statement is fucking insulting. Maybe if people were actually smart with their money and kept their penis envy in check we'd all be in a better place instead of hearing about all the socialist programs we need to save people, save the poor, give them HC and by all means let them keep their cable TV's and nice cars and cells. I am getting so tired of the "average suffering" American.
Wow, $180K/yr and just getting by? How did I manage to raise 2 kids on less than 1/3 of that per year? I really do think there is a problem with that assessment; maybe they should sell their million dollar house and down size a little.
I agree. $180,000 is middle class
dude,,,, you need some meds.
Credit Card companies, Big Pharma and let's not forget the also highly profitable: healthcare insurers. They've all raised their rates and prices considerably.
Meanwhile, Medicare still cannot ask for bids for any drug, but must accept whatever price Pfizer or Amgen want to charge, thanks to the "donut hole" bill passed by Bushboy and the Republicans.
As part of any healthcare reform, that atrocity needs to be corrected so that Americans are paying less for drugs, just like Europeans.
Just another thing to get angry over.
You do not need "death panels" when the multi-national corporations make it impossible for Americans on a fixed income to survive.....The free market does a much cleaner job of weeding out the old and infirm...the poor senior citizens can choose to die or commit crimes and go to jail for 3 squares, medical, and a roof.
Don't look now, seemoreglass, but the young citizens are faced with the same situation--the only place left for 3 squares, medical benes and board for many of them is jail also; so, once again, the middle class gets to take care of everyone while our standardsof living plummets and the rich get richer.
When will these legal drug dealers stop digging in our pockets, can't they see the only thing in there is lint !
Look in the mirror. what you see is a CHUMP. The U.S. pays retail plus while the rest of the world negotiates lower prices. The only reason the socialized systems elsewhere work even poorly is because WE subsidize them by paying retail. It is time the U.S. demands to be treated the way all large customers are treated with quantity discounts. We should not be subsidizing healthcare for the rest of the developed world.
Right! It is all based on your ability to pay. Being the richest country in the world we have always paid more for everything. We can't worry about how socialism will affect large corporations. They have been imposing their own brand of socialism with pricing throughout the world at the expense of Americans!
There is a law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating. It is absurd. We invest our money, The NIH invests money. Our citizens fund risky start-ups and we get stiffed. I used to be in the biz. I used a particular device that cost a little less than $600k here. I could buy the same device in the UK for $250 and for $150 in China. The companies treat the rest of the world as gravy. Are you telling me Switzerland can't pay retail? France? Sweden? Give me a break. I used to be the only Gentile in an all Jewish office. They would tell Gentile jokes over the intercom (today I could sue and be rich, but then I just laughed my ass off), the best one I remember was: "Why did God invent Gentiles? Somebody's got to pay retail." That is what this deal feels like.
The congress at the end of the Carter era allowed drug companies to move offshore avoiding the taxes they should have been paying all along.
Our congress never gets it right, and we will continue to be at their mercy until such time we throw all those incumbents out on their asses.
About 8 years ago, some of the major drug companies were making great profits. In order to make even more profits, they starting laying people off and replacing some of them with private consultants. They did not have to pay them the same salaries as their employees and they did not have to pay them benefits. The word was out that they were creating jobs for people!!!!
Well, no surprise here. Apparently, their multi-billion dollars profits are not enough. And when you pay for your meds with your credit card you get screwed again and not even kissed. Looks like its time for a tax revolt.
Apparently not. It is also going to take more than a tax revolt to change things.
That drug companies would do such a thing--shocking! I thought they were only interested in our well-being.
Obama is so assinine. Private companies thrive on the bureaucratic red tape as well as corruption of government. Private companies move at rapid speed to exploit any government loophole until its found out. The government changes the rules and the private companies come in and find a new loophole. Goldman Sachs is the king of this. It seems Pharma ain't so bad either.
Obama stikes a deal of $80 billion of savings from Pharma, when they will unleash medicines costing $4 Trillion over the next deacde. A 5% tax; which with price increases they won't have to pay. Good job Obama, make US corporations stronger and leave the people on Main St grasping at straws.
Begin with repealing any restrictions on US citizens buying drugs from Canada and other countries
This was a sweetheart sell out to Pharma in the Medicare Drug bill
There are bills floating thru Congress to do this
If Congress wont act the administration needs to announce a policy of non enforcement similar to what they did with grass
I think this is the first time that I have read a page of comments, that almost everyone was in total agreement.
Everyone is aware that corporations have taken over America, and we the people have to take it back. The question is, how do we do it?
Very good question. I guess I'd say that in the end, we're still the voters. And if we don't want overwhelming corporate influence ( there will always be some) in our political system, we shouldn't be rewarding politicians who are beholden to corporations. This goes for both Democrats and Republicans, because corporations can get their benefits regardless of political platforms - whether it's tax breaks from the Republicans or mandates and special deals from the Democrats. Also, there needs to be some sort of campaign finance reform so that those who don't take a lot of corporate money can be heard by the voting public.
Unfortunately, once a person is elible for votes, they are usually already corrupted by the faulty system that is entrenched, so we get to vote for the lesser of two evils rather than a representative of the people.
pclayton - Maybe, but it's pretty amazing how quickly politicians can turn when they see votes heading in another direction. Look, I don't think it's possible, or even desirable, for corporations to be completely excluded from the political arena - after all, most of us work for some form of corporation or other and their lobbying can help us keep our jobs. But the way that corporate money is being thrown around today goes beyond representation - it's really like saying a rich guy has more votes than a poor guy. I know, I know, I'm probably a naive idealist - I guess that's why I've only ever voted for third party candidates my entire life.
Not all the corporations, mainly those in the health care industries.
Briansays has it right, open up purchasing drugs from who ever we can, particulary from abroad, the competiton will drive the drug company profiteers crazy.
jolebo: Corporations have taken over because Congress (Democrats & Republicans) have allowed it to happen. Our votes count, campaign money talks. It's time we get a referendum going to place the matter of term limits on a national ballot. By placing term limits, Congress will work for us, the people they are suppose to be serving.
Squareyellowpaper, it isn't a case of the drug companies outsmarting Obama. It is a case of the drug industry taking advantage of the popular perversion of our system which declares that anything designed to make a positive difference for the hard working American people is a "socialist" or "communist" conspiracy; a notion perpetrated by the actual anti-capitalist National Corporate Security Statists wrapped in the flag "Neo-Con" Republican oligarchists who improperly call themselves "conservatives"!!!
The working poor and middle income people--the actual victims of the moguls of insurance, drugs, for-profit hospitals--are the real culprits because they refuse to open their eyes, ears and minds so as to see, listen to and consider the realities all around them. No, they prefer the myth that anything big business does is right; that unbridled, laissez faire capitalism is ordained by God; that any regulation or oversight by government at any level is a sure road to totalitarian communism; that Texas is the only really American place left in the world today; that true conservatism means "greed is good" and that it is okay to work one's self to death making the rich richer because one day, before one dies, one might win the lottery or sell a song or write a $million best-seller.
The other culprit is the two-thirds rule in the Senate. While it is designed to be a protective device for the minority in the senate, it is the main reason some good legislation is, at times, virtually impossible to pass and that some bad legislation is also hard to pass. It has its place but the American people have had a hard time understanding that if they want "efficient" legislative processes, they need to give one party the power necessary to pass legislation; that is, several more than a two-thirds majority in the senate; thus, taking a chance that the super-majority party won't take too much advantage of that majority. That is the burden and the glory of a non-parliamentary democratic-republic.
As for Demdisorder, the billl is not a "100% democrats bill." Several hundred pervasive Republican committee amendments (passed to mollify Republicans) and the "abortion" provision (while carried by Stupak, it was passed by Republicans on the floor)--which is a "poison pill"--are major elements of "the bill"...
Points well made, harleyj. American workers are still carrying around the "red scare" when it comes to any programs designed to help the less fortunate among us. What I think is missing as far as your two-thirds Senate rule discussion is trust--neither party, when in the majority, are trustworthy in the eyes of the opposition, so next to nothing gets done and what is accompished virtually takes years.
"If we always do, what we always done, we will always get, what we always got".....annon.
Throw the bums out.
"It's time to clean out the barn"....Ross Perot
Plantagenet, the federal law restricts, for dead-beats and people with good credit, certain abuses by the credit card companies & banks. However, there are still constitutional provisions for state regulations on issues involving intrastate commerce. Each state has implied, if not guaranteed, authority to regulate within its own boundaries certain intrastate banking and credit issues. Your criticism misses the target because--as a result of the two-thirds rule in the senate--Republicans still have the disruptive power to corrupt almost any legislation coming from committee to the floor.
Why is this surprising? Congress knows what corporations do. That's why this door was left open. I'm moving to Australia.
Just a thought. Years ago, around the time of WWII, some army officers got tired of not being able to get the insurance they needed - war clauses and all. They set out to form a members' insurance company to insure themselves. Today that company is USAA, a very highly rated financial services company serving military members wordlwide. Why couldn't we form our own health insurance company that made reasonable profits and offerred quality products? There must be a reason or someone would have done this already. Are the state insurance regulatiors as corrupt as our Washington legistators?
theschmooze :
" BASTARDS, both the pharma companies and the banks."
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I just think that ^ bears repeating. Thank you.
The new credit card fees are being put in place for the same reason that drug prices are going up. Credit card companies are afraid of the new restrictions, Big Pharma is afraid of Obamacare so they jack it up 9%, then promise decreases later.
Government, credit companies, Big Pharma...it's ALL a scam.
Thank you.
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